Summertime!!

It's another crazy summer! Our schedule is packed with stuff to do every weekend until Labor Day, and this year Emilia is along for the ride. We have pool parties, Nascar races, weddings, showers, and vacations planned. We've already been to the beach this year and we have plans to go to Jersey in the next couple of weeks. We went to a pool party this past weekend at the Williams' beautiful home. Emilia couldn't get enough of the pool even when the guys were having a backflip contest.

This was daddy and Emilia at the party. He's teaching her oh so well!

This was her all rolled up in the blanket that she was sitting on. Instead of helping, I took a picture...what a great mom!!
This was obviously a mealtime supervised by mommy...daddy doesn't like when she gets messy!

This one is just because she's cute!

Emilia is on the move!! She can roll like a "streak of bologna" as they say. She has much more control when she's transitioning from sitting onto her belly, she pivots on her belly, she rolls all over the place, she can get up on her hands and knees and rock, and she's starting to army crawl forward a little on her belly. Now that Emilia is moving around we've had to put a gate on the basement stairs. She can't get enough of LJ - he cheers her up whenever she's down! Enjoy this batch of pictures and videos...there will be more summer pictures to come!

First Beach Trip!!

We went to Ocean City, MD last weekend. Brian and Ed went on a deep sea fishing trip while Emilia, Grammi, and I spent some time at the beach.

Emilia was so excited to go she wanted to try out her beach cabana. Here she is checking it out in the living room.



When we got to the beach she was amazed by the sand. She had a great time playing in it. She couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay in her hand when she picked it up. She was not such a fan of the ocean, though. It was pretty chilly, and she was tired by the time we went down to the water each day. She didn't mind the cold, wet sand but definitely liked the warm sand better. It scared her a little when the waves splashed up on her feet. We'll see if she does a bit better when we go to Jersey in August.











The fishing trip went very well!!! The boys were a part of the 22nd annual Ocean City tuna fishing tournament (unbeknownst to them). Their boat ended up taking first place for the heaviest stringer...their total catch for the two days...as well as second place for biggest catch. As a matter of fact, Ed was the one who reeled in the 158 lb. tuna. It took him about 45 minutes and lots of muscle to wrestle the huge fish overboard!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Independence Day...and that Matt had a great birthday!!

Emilia has been teething...enough said!! She's visibly uncomfortable, will chew on anything she can get her hands on, and drools like a leaky faucet. Her two front bottom teeth actually broke through this morning (I can feel the sharp little edges even though I can't really see the pearly whites yet). She's had a stuffy nose for about 2 days now and is having a hard time napping and sleeping because of all of this. So of course we decide to disrupt her routine further and attend several barbeques for the holiday weekend (such wonderful parents we are).

On Friday afternoon we had a barbeque with Jason and Tere. Emilia played well with Madeleine and was so fascinated by the fact that she can run around. She was getting a bit upset because she couldn't get up and move around with her, though. Maddie was so sweet and gave Emi lots of hugs and shared her toys so well. Even though she barely napped all day she was a good sport and enjoyed herself for a little while as long as she was being entertained.

Yesterday we went to a party at Anne Marie and Todd's house in Mt. Airy. It was great to see them since it's been months and months. Lauren came with us and we had a great time! It was such a beautiful day!! We came home a bit earlier, and Emi got back into her bedtime routine and was out like a little light after 2 days of non-stop running. The Leesburg fireworks were awesome from our garage roof. We'll have to build an observation deck up there for next year's display! It's a perfect view without the intense noise! LJ nearly had a nervous break-down, however...especially when he couldn't get up the ladder with us! The noise didn't bother Emilia at all and she slept right through the booms!!




I took these pictures a couple of days ago. I just thought they were too cute not to share. She looked like a little '50's house wife in her striped dress and headband.
She's such a good sport about letting me do her hair. The pigtails look so cute from the front but she doesn't really wear them yet because there is quite a bit of hair that isn't long enough in the back. Cute photo op though!

Brewfest '09

This past weekend we had a celebration around the Northern Virginia Summer Brewfest. We had a such a great time and it went better than we could have imagined.

We planned a barbeque for the evening after everyone had their fill at the festival. The cook was none other than the famous Michael Broadway!!Lots of family came to visit. Matt, Amanda, and Case came up from King George...
and brought with them Aunt Janet and Uncle Kurt.Uncle Tim and Aunt Schnuki were also in the area and came for the festival and the party! We haven't seen them since our wedding (I know...it's a sin)!!!We had tons of our closest friends who have become like family to us down here in VA.
Old friends caught up with one another...and new friendships were made.
All in all everyone had a great time!!!

I'm not sure how I missed out on Uncle Kurt handing out $20 bills.
Daddy was very proud of his girls at the brewfest...he's taught us well!While mom and dad were down they got some great quality time with Emilia. She enjoyed all of the attention!!
A couple of days ago Emilia made her first trip to the pool. We met LuLu at the pool at her apartment complex. Emilia was not bothered by the cool water at all. She was a little confused at first and couldn't figure out why I was in the "bath" with her. Once she realized that she was surrounded by water she had a blast!! I sat on the step and she stood on the one below me and splashed for a long time until she was all pruney. She was fascinated by all of the other kids splashing and playing in the water.